Mental Health News: Casey Anthony Acquittal Supported By Grief Reaction

July 5, 2011 - PRLog -- On observing the details of the Casey Anthony trial, the author of Effective Counseling Skills, Daniel Keeran, MSW, predicted a finding of not guilty on counts of murder and manslaughter.

This report is based on the author's book and the chapter on grief counseling found at http://www.amazon.com/Effective-Counseling-Skills-therapeutic-statements/dp/1442177993

The emotional reactions of Casey Anthony demonstrate she could not have anti-social personality disorder that would certainly be the case if she had committed a murder.

Her behavior of dancing and having a tatoo made after the child's death, could also be understood as signs of a grief reaction in which denial is a prominent component. This kind of reaction was observed also in the court environment in which she was laughing and smiling at times and also crying at other times.

Her grief reaction is consistent with a sudden death that may have been the drowning of the child in the backyard pool. Keeran states that in his professional experience, a mother whose young child drowns in the family pool, is often suicidal in the aftermath.

The videos of Casey Anthony with the child, Caylee, show a strong emotional and caring mother-child bond, and the child appears to be happy and cared for.

In the case of Ms. Anthony, her reaction was to feel so distraught that she remained in denial of what had occurred. The feelings of pain and guilt are so intense in this type of loss, that the mother would either be suicidal or in denial such as seen in a strong grief reaction. Partying would simply be a way of distancing or protecting herself from the reality of the painful and tragic death of the child and associated intense feelings of guilt.

Perhaps additonal facts of what occurred will surface in the future, but at this time the jury was correct to return a finding of not guilty based on reasonable doubt.

See a video presentation by the author: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aodrYDAo9xk



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